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Crying Rocks

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day that we remember the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, being welcomed with praise and cheers as a king, rescuer and messiah. They threw palm branches and their very cloaks on the ground so that Jesus’ donkey wouldn’t have to walk on the dirt. The people were enthralled with Him, and they couldn’t keep quiet about it either. In fact, they were so loud and so insistent in their praise of Him that the Pharisees told Jesus to tell the people to be silent, to which he responded “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Ironically, some did become silent, and while most didn’t, within a few days time, most of them became just as, if not more, loud in opposition and hatred for Jesus, demanding His death. Us people sure can be fickle.

That verse though, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” has always really struck me. It speaks two remarkable truths. The first is that, God, His majesty, His kingship, His dominion, His power, absolutely everything about Him is absolutely evident and cannot be contained, hidden or denied. Earth itself cries out, literally screams or shrieks in exclamation, His glory. From the most vast and unknowable mysteries of the universe, to the most simple of inanimate objects, a rock, He is proclaimed.

Second, though every molecule of creation screams to the fact that Jesus is King, we are still expected to proclaim that truth. It would have been simple for God to say “Look, the rocks cry out, the stars tell of me, the birds and the fish reveal me, the intricacy of human life is an undeniable proof of who I am. You people don’t need to say anything You say plenty by your very existence,” but He didn’t. In fact, we are told to loudly and boldly proclaim Him to our neighbors, families, friends, strangers and nations.

During this time in our world there are a lot of people who are scared and angry and confused and desperate for a whole variety of reasons, even apart from the COVID-19 fears that have swept the globe. People are looking for answers, for reasons, for security, for hope. As Christians, we need to be displaying that. People are looking at us. Your friends, neighbors and families are looking at you. What are you displaying. Are you proclaiming the truth of God, both in love and mercy and hope and in submission to the ruling authorities over you, or are you a sounding board for the fear and anger that so many are exhibiting?

Remember, even if we are silent, creation screams out as testament to God, but we have an obligation to not be silent, and to not, as many of Christ’s followers did, loudly proclaim a message that goes against that which He taught.

As we approach Palm Sunday, in a world of “stay at home” let’s boldly proclaim His name online and complement the message of the rocks as they cry out His name, since, after all, rocks aren’t under a “stay at home” order.